Hi all, Forwarding this from c.t.t. It looks like perhaps the OP's code is correct and something in ConTeXt is wrong (at least I cannot find anything wrong with the example code, even with \setupcolors[state=start], I get no background color). Perhaps somebody who has actually used table backgrounds can help? Taco -------- Original Message -------- Subject: ConTEXt Newbie: Column/table background color - which table model/command? Date: 26 Aug 2005 08:39:16 -0700 From: A. Lucas Organization: http://groups.google.com Newsgroups: comp.text.tex I've only recently discovered ConTEXt and grabbed all the documentation I could find (but not quite read it). My question: If I want column background and line color, do I need METAPOST or is there a simpler way to do it? I need a multi-page table with continuous, but different columns widths and running headers on every new page - could/must I use btable (XML environment)? The \backgroundcolor and \background commands don't seem to work with \setuptables and \starttable(s). Example: ----------------- \placetable[here][tab:setuptables]{Ships that moored at Hasselt.} {\setuptables[bodyfont=10pt,rulethickness=6pt,background=color,backgroundcolor=red] \starttable[|cw(5cm)|cTw(3cm)|]% '|' wird hier nicht gedruckt, dient als column separator; mit w(...) width festsetzen \HL% horizontal line \VL \bf Year \DC \bf Number of ships \VL\SR% new colum bold font seperate row \HL \VL 1645 \DC 450 \VL\FR% first row \VL 1671 \DC 480 \VL\MR% mid row \VL 1676 \DC 500 \VL\MR \VL 1695 \DC 930 \VL\LR% last row \HL \stoptable} ------------------ I get the thick border but no colors. Maybe I'm just to dumb yet and will know more after a weekend of reading up, but I'd be thankful for a hint.